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TRohr

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  1. (*This is more or less an extension of my "Help with music production thread."*)

     

    I was wondering how everyone re-mixes/mixes their tracks live... please go into deep, deep depth when explaining your techniques if you are willing to share them with the world... i've been trying to find answers to my questions bellow but I haven't had much success....

     

    Is DJ'ing really just stitching two tracks together? Isn't there more to it than that?

     

    Usually, when I mix tracks together I introduce "Track A", rush to "Track B" and find a good place to introduce the track, go back to "Track A", add some effects and as the beat drops off into those little ambient portions between beats in PsyTrance tracks I start fading to "Track B..." with some cool effects.

     

    With Psytrance it's so hard to beatmix without having the mix sound like a speaker submerged in a mud puddle. How do people make it seem as if one song has been playing the entire night? Sure, you can use a harmonized mix where all the tracks sound kind of similar, but how would you overlap "Track B" onto "Track A" for 3 minutes before "Track B" is even cued? How do you beatmix psytrance? So far I just use a 2-4 beat blip of a melody/Noise, SFX and use the X-fader to sort of flash it here and there into the track that is playing....

     

    How do people drastically re-mix tracks live? I have tried using samples in those little ambient passages, and it sounds pretty cool but can you really consider that a re-mix? Would you consider "re-mixing" a track more production or just a DJ technique?

     

    Finally, how does a psytrance festival go on for 3-5 days straight? I know that there will be a line up of a whole shit ton of DJ's but in their sets do they have two or three songs that they loop, and loop, and loop while adding all sorts of whirring noises and things? Or is it 5 hours worth of songs in a playlist and they are just hopping from one to the next every two minutes? Is there any break in the music?

     

    Please bare with me guys... I am from a very sheltered city and am just now getting out and seeing the world. Psytrance is unheard of where I live. I will probably have some pretty repetative posts for awhile that state the obvious, but it's helping me find my inner musician!

  2. ...If you want to make your own "personal" sounds get an analogue sythesizer.

    See my little phatty review somewhere far below.

    I think you get insperation by hearing sounds so listen...

    I actually went and bought a MicroKorg and am absolutely loving it. I haven't been able to synth anything really amazing yet, but I enjoy playing with it. Unfortunatley I don't know if i'm going to be able to keep it....

     

    I have decided that I am going to dive into Reaktor for the next year... it sounds like that's the way to go when it comes to synthesizing ridiculous voices/sounds/instruments etc for psychedelic trance~. I am going to be traveling abroad for quite awhile, so having all that power on my laptop will be nice too.

  3. if you dont know basic subtractive synthesis reaktor is probly a bad place to start unless you want to spend the next six months learning reaktor and drinking alot of coffee. i would say start with albino, cosmosis posted some nice patches on his site and you would be good to go.

    I'll definitely give it a go. I have some tutorials that I pulled off of the NI forums/homepage for Reaktor but I doubt they'll help much (I haven't read them yet).

  4. there is a set (from good old times, lol) in my signiture if you re interested.

    Ah, thank you very much for mentioning that set. I know exactly what I am going to do tonight. I only listened to the first minute or so of it... it's so brutal! I'm going to chill on my trampoline, stargazing, while listening to this stuff with some vegetables~. I don't think it deserves any less.

     

    Also, I think I have found my "easy button." I went and bought A MicroKorg today, and though I am not creating my own instruments/sounds... and I am sure Reaktor has soooooo much more to offer if I would just sit down and learn how to use it (... I do like my hardware though~) I figure this thing will be an excellent learning tool for sound synthesis. It's pretty much fool proof and the possibilities are endless it seems. I plan on syncing it up with my KP3 as well for more sample/synthesis debauchery... more or less like this guy->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEucKtMahjI.

     

    Oh well... gotta just give it lots of time and experimentation I guess. I'm probably off on the right foot.

  5. Hopefully i'm not too late on this one....

     

    I would check this route out.... I use...

     

    -Virtual DJ so you don't have to spend all of your time beat matching and trying to find compatible songs to mix... there is also an extremely wicked waveform display so that you know when the next beat is ready to drop. It's $299.00. I hate to say it but crack it first to see if it's really what you want... and i'm sure it will be... I prefer it over Traktor because of the waveform display.

    -Gigaport AG USB Soundcard (8 sets of outs)... it's about $115

    -Numark DXM 09 3 channel mixer with all sorts of fun effects $300-ish

    -Alesis MultiMix 8 for recording stuff... the USB connection is extremely nice and it's only about $130

    -Korg Kaos Pad 3 for really cool transitions and effects $422-ish

    -MicroKorg, because it's just an amazing synth $422-ish

    -a 500 gig external HD $120.00

    -HP something or other laptop with a gig of ram and dual core processors with nothing but samples and music on it. $1100.00

    -some nice Bose cans. I ended up buying two pairs and modified them so that both sets of speakers fit snugly in one pair of cans so that I can use one for monitors and the other to listen to my incoming tracks. Cost me $200, I can play all the way through the night and not wake the neighbors, and they are portable.

    -A mouse. cheap.

     

    It's pretty much the most portable setup I could think of with a kick. I can fit it all into one gig bag and I even carry it onto planes when I go dick around internationally.

  6. producers make music (i am talking about the ones that use their own samples and stuff) djs mix them into parties and ritualistic gatherings. both are not easy...

    I agree with you in that DJ'ing can be pretty difficult.... I use Virtual DJ without a controller (just my mouse) and having to create seamless loops for the next two tracks, match pitch for all of them without anyone noticing, match their beats, fly to my mixer to adjust EQ levels, jump over to my (dj) mixer to adjust EQ levels, fade in the next two tracks using various effects and cutting out bass levels to really get ones heart racing while flipping back and forth with the crossfader the entire time to make it seem like the new voices are part of the track, then somehow managing to jump to my KP3 to throw in a sample or two out of thousands to fit the moment (using more effects that you thought ever existed) to create a really interesting buildup or breakdown in about 10-30 seconds isn't exactly easy. Soon i'll be working a MicroKorg into it all somehow too.... Then having to do it consistently yet with enough variance that it doesn't get old....

     

    All I was really saying was that these days it's easy for anyone to call themselves a DJ. I don't know if you have used Mixed in Key or MixMeister fusion before (sadly even Virtual DJ) but it adds seamless beat matching, seamless looping, a dummy proof auto fade in case things go south (or in case all you want to do for the night is throw a bunch of songs into the playlist and let it DJ for you the entire night), BPM detectors so all of your tracks can be harmonized and flow well no matter how you mix them.... So I would like to really distinguish myself somehow. I figure producing my own music or soundscapes would do the trick.

  7. Hey everyone, I am really glad I found this forum and all of you cool people. My story is the same as a lot of yours probably... to keep it short, I live in the middle of an extremely sheltered city... I had a trip one night and stumbled upon Ott's Hallucinogen In Dub mixes at the peak of it. My mind was blown away and now I would like to share psychedelic trance with everyone I come in contact with.

     

    I need help though.... So far my setup is...

     

    -Numark DXM 09 three channel mixer

    -Alesis Multimix 8

    -Axiom 49 midi controller

    -Kaos Pad 3

    -Decent laptop with a Gigaport external USB soundcard

    -Reaktor

    -Cubase LE

    -FL Studios XXL Production edition

    -Live 6.0.1

    -ACID Pro

    -Bandstand

    -Home Studio

    -Traktor

    -Virtual DJ

    -Mixmeister

    -Mixed In Key

    -a ridiculous amount of samples and SFX's

    -a ridiculous amount of psychedelic trance

     

    So far things have been going well.... I prefer to DJ because I know it is going to be years before I can rise to the likes of artists such as Mycel, Children of the Bong, Eskimo etc. I am very happy with my mixing style and feel it is very distinct; I know what I want the audience to feel and I think I do a good job of relaying those feelings through my mixes.

     

    I am not happy with merely DJ'ing though. I think DJ'ing is a sorry excuse to get out of producing ones own music because, truthfully, anyone and their grandmother can DJ. So I tried to step it up a notch.... I went out and rented about 80 SciFi movies and created all sorts of fun samples to relay my stories to the audience a bit more distinctly but I am still not happy. I am wanting to DJ but I would like to create ambient sound-scape's and new beats between tracks so that my mixes become truly personal. I haven't the faintest knowledge about music theory but plan on researching it in extreme depth for the next few months (who knows maybe the rest of my life) to get a general idea of music notation, music structures, maybe some history etc. I also have a general idea of the structure of a psychedelic trance track and how things are introduced throughout the song which I think helps a little....

     

    In the end I need to know where I should start. I guess to be more specific I need to know where to find all sorts of mind bending sounds/voices/bass. I have already read through much of this forum and the web regarding sound synthesis and I have decided that I am going to dive into Reaktor and tomorrow I think I am going to go buy a MicroKorg Synthesizer/Vocoder to create custom voices/sounds. Also, I am sure studying music theory will help me quite a bit in piecing all of the sounds and things that I have synthesized together.... I will probably stick with Ableton because I love the interface and it seems like it has quite a bit to offer.....

     

    I wish I could be more specific if I haven't already been specific enough.... How do you all start production? So far I just start by smoking a huge joint then mix music till I get a really powerful feeling. I take that feeling and then fine tune it... but as far as producing music to fit that feeling.... Should I go into Ableton, create a beat, create some melodies, create a whole bunch of squelchy fun sounds and then work on getting it to flow together? What order should I do things in? Melodies, basslines, fun squelchy sounds? Squelchy sounds, basslines, melodies? Maybe I do in fact have what it takes but I need to play a bit more.... Should I buy a MicroKorg? Where is "The Easy Button?" Would I be fine sticking with Ableton and Reaktor (though I do love playing with hardware)? Keep in mind that my setup needs to remain portable.... I can't afford nor do I want to own a full sized production station/workstation (or at least at this time) because I am going to be studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan for an entire year starting in two weeks.... Thanks for everyone who has read through my rantings to this point.... I hope you all have some advice for me because all of it is greatly appreciated.

     

    Thanks~.

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